House Cleaning Quote: What to Send, What to Expect
A good house cleaning quote is a written price for a clearly described list of work, based on your home’s size, condition and the type of clean you want. To get one that holds up, tell the company your square footage, bedrooms and bathrooms, how often you want service, the condition of the home and any pets. Ask for the scope in writing. Below we show what goes into the number, what typical rates look like, and how to compare quotes in San Diego without a long phone call.
TL;DR
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Give the cleaner home size, bedrooms and bathrooms, type of clean, frequency, condition and pets. These five details drive most of the price.
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Ask for a written, dated description of all the work and its price, and compare at least three quotes.
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Standard, deep and move-out cleans are priced differently because they take different amounts of labor.
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At Mexi Maids, house cleaning starts at $52.50 per hour and deep cleaning is $185-$225 as a one-off, both as published on our site.
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Check what is excluded (inside the oven, fridge, windows, carpets) before you accept a price.
Table of Contents
What a cleaning company needs to know to quote you
The more precise your answers, the less the final bill differs from the first number. Most companies work from the same short list:
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Home size. Square footage, or at least bedrooms and bathrooms. Bathrooms and kitchens take longer per square foot than bedrooms.
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Type of clean. Standard, deep, move-in, move-out or post-construction. Each has a different scope.
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Frequency. Weekly, biweekly, monthly or one time. Recurring homes are usually quicker to maintain, so the per-visit price is often lower.
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Condition. When it was last cleaned, and whether there is grease, hard-water buildup or heavy dust.
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Pets and people. Pet hair, kids and allergies change the work. Pets may call for extra pet-hair removal and carpet cleaning beyond a standard visit.
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Supplies and equipment. Ask whether you need to provide them. Policies vary, and some companies charge extra. With us, our crew brings the supplies, and we use eco-friendly products.
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Extras. Inside the oven, inside the refrigerator, interior windows, cabinets, carpets or upholstery.
Photos help. A few pictures of the kitchen, the worst bathroom and any problem floors let an estimator price the job without guessing.
How cleaning companies calculate an estimate
Behind every quote is an estimate of hours. A company then turns hours into a price using labor cost, supplies, travel, overhead and a profit margin. The same source lists the inputs on your side: home size, service type, frequency, location and condition.
Another industry guide names five factors: home size, cleaning type, frequency, location and cost of living, and home condition. Location matters in San Diego. A crew driving from Chula Vista to La Jolla spends travel time, and that time has to be paid for somewhere.
There are three common ways to price the same job:
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Hourly. You pay for the time spent. It is flexible, but the final cost depends on how fast the crew works and how dirty the home is.
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Per square foot. A national price calculator lists standard cleaning at $0.05 to $0.10 per square foot, deep cleaning at $0.10 to $0.17 and move-in or move-out cleaning at $0.15 to $0.25. It also lists $25 to $50 per cleaner per hour and a minimum visit charge of $80 to $150. These are national baselines, not San Diego prices.
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Flat rate. A fixed price for a defined scope, agreed before the visit. This is how we quote, because you can budget for it and it removes any worry about the clock running.
What house cleaning costs: national, state and our own rates
An analysis of Thumbtack listings put the U.S. average for a standard house cleaning at $176 per visit, and California at $208.85 per visit. Treat those as a rough frame. Your own quote will move with your home.
Here is what we publish for San Diego County:
| Service | Our published price | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| House cleaning | From $52.50 per hour | Standard maintenance clean |
| Deep cleaning | $185-$225, one-off | Priced by home size and condition |
| Move-in/move-out cleaning | $79, one-off | As listed on our house cleaning page |
| One-time cleaning | $79, one-off | As listed on our house cleaning page |
| Recurring housekeeping | Quoted to your home | See our pricing page |
For the full breakdown by home size, see our guides on house cleaning cost in San Diego and deep cleaning cost in San Diego. Because every home differs, we confirm the exact figure in a written flat-rate quote.
Why standard, deep and move-out quotes differ
The same home can get three very different quotes, and all three can be fair.
Standard (maintenance) cleaning keeps a home that is already in decent shape tidy: dusting, vacuuming, mopping, kitchen surfaces, bathrooms, trash. It is the quickest of the three.
Deep cleaning resets the home. It reaches the places a regular visit skips: baseboards, hard-water buildup on shower glass and fixtures, grease on the stovetop and cabinet fronts, door frames and the tops of furniture. It takes more labor hours, so it costs more. We explain what is included on our deep cleaning in San Diego page.
Move-out cleaning is built around the final walkthrough. The home is empty, so the crew can clean inside cabinets, drawers, closets, appliances and bathrooms. National price guides put it at the high end of per-square-foot ranges because the standard is the strictest. Renters aiming for a full deposit back can use our move-out cleaning checklist and read the move-out cleaning cost guide.
Move-in cleaning focuses on sanitizing what you will touch first: cabinets, appliances, bathrooms and floors, before boxes arrive. Our comparison of move-in versus move-out cleaning shows where the two differ.
What can a cleaner do in three hours?
It depends on the size of the home and the type of clean. As a rule of thumb, three hours with one cleaner suits a small apartment or a one- to two-bedroom home that gets regular maintenance. In that time a crew can usually do the kitchen, bathrooms, dusting, vacuuming and mopping. A larger or neglected home needs more time, or a bigger crew, or a deep clean instead.
This is why a flat-rate scope beats a vague hour count. Ask the company to list which rooms and tasks are included, so three hours does not turn into a rushed pass through the house.
How home condition and pets change the price
A home cleaned every two weeks is a different job from one that has not been cleaned in six months. Heavy buildup, pet hair, smoke residue or leftover construction dust all add labor. If you are dealing with serious residue after a fire, a step-by-step guide such as this smoke damage cleaning guide for homeowners explains why that work is a different job from routine cleaning.
For ordinary situations, be upfront. If the home needs a first deep clean before recurring service starts, say so. We would rather quote the deep clean once and then move you to a lighter recurring plan than underprice the first visit and have it fall short.
What a written quote should include
A quote you can rely on is on paper. Start by asking for a home inspection and a written, signed and dated description of all the work and its price, and get three or more estimates. A professional estimate should also contain business and client details, an estimate number, scope and frequency, itemized pricing, exclusions and payment terms.
Use this checklist when you compare:
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The rooms and tasks included, listed one by one
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What is excluded (ovens, refrigerators, interior windows, carpets, laundry)
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Whether the price is flat or hourly, and what happens if the job runs long
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Frequency and whether the price changes after the first visit
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Who is in your home: background-checked staff, and whether it is the same crew each time
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What happens if something is missed or damaged, such as a reclean guarantee
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Payment terms and cancellation policy
A low number with no scope is not a deal. It is a number you cannot compare.
Red flags in a cleaning quote
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A price given sight unseen with no questions. If nobody asked about bathrooms, pets or condition, the price will change later.
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No written scope. You cannot hold anyone to a verbal list.
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Large cash deposits or pressure to book today.
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No answer on who will be in the house. You should know whether the team is trained and background-checked.
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Vague extras. “Deep clean” with no list means different things to different companies.
Perspective
Most people ask for a quote because they have been burned once: a price that grew on the day, or a crew that rushed and left the baseboards and shower glass untouched.
We built Mexi Maids around the opposite experience. When our owner started, San Diego cleaning felt expensive but impersonal, so we set out to combine professional cleaning methods with real Mexican hospitality: detailed, warm and attentive.
That is why we quote a flat rate to a written scope. You know what you are paying for before we arrive. Our crews are trained and background-checked, and we aim to send the same team every visit, so they learn your home and your preferences, including which products you want us to use around kids and pets.
If something is not right, our reclean guarantee is there for that. A quote should be a promise about the work, not just a number, and we think the best way to judge a company is to read what it will put in writing.
Mexi Maids Cleaning Team
Get your quote from Mexi Maids
We serve all of San Diego County, from Pacific Beach and North Park to Chula Vista, La Jolla and Carlsbad. Tell us your home size, the type of clean, how often you want us, and anything unusual, such as pets or a lease end date. We reply with a clear flat-rate quote and a written scope.
For a standard clean, see our house cleaning in San Diego page. For recurring plans and deep cleaning, start at our pricing page. We offer English and Spanish support, so you can ask your questions in whichever language is easier. Business owners can request a quote for offices, medical facilities, gyms and post-construction cleaning on our commercial services page.
FAQ
How much should a house cleaning quote be?
It depends on home size, type of clean, frequency and condition. National price guides give per-square-foot and hourly ranges, but a San Diego quote should be based on your actual home. Our house cleaning starts at $52.50 per hour, and deep cleaning is $185-$225 as a one-off, as published on our site.
Is a house cleaning estimate free?
Most companies give a free estimate, and we do too. Ask for the quote in writing so the scope and price are clear. Confirm there is no fee for an in-home or photo-based assessment before you agree to one.
What is a good quote for cleaning a house?
A good quote lists every room and task, notes what is excluded, states whether the price is flat or hourly, and is dated and written. Collect three or more so you can compare scope as well as price. The cheapest quote with the shortest task list is rarely the best value.
Do I need to provide cleaning supplies?
Not with us. Our crew brings supplies and uses eco-friendly products, and we can use pet-safe options. With other companies, ask directly, because some charge extra when they supply products.
Why did my first quote change after the cleaner saw the home?
Usually because the details given by phone did not match the home: more bathrooms, pet hair, heavy buildup or an appliance that needed cleaning. Photos and honest answers up front prevent this, and a flat-rate written scope makes any change visible before work begins.